When Michael Jackson died I was shocked and of course sad. Despite the fact that the media has enjoyed tearing him apart I always kept a candle burning for his level of talent and overwhelming ability to entertain people. When he toured in the 80's I was lucky enough to see him at Parramatta Stadium, which was across the road from where I lived, and very exciting to see the stage and equipment being set up weeks before the shows. I can honestly say I have seen lots and lots of live concerts everything from Tom Jones to Franz Ferdinand to Neil Diamond but I have never seen anything like a Michael Jackson show. Fortunately I was able to see him again when he toured in the 90's and was blown away yet again. He had it all, stage presence, theatre and of course he could actually sing. Apart from his phenomenal stage shows when you listen to the albums with their amazing production and ahead of their time sound and vision he was truly the King of Pop.
When I was in 6th class a girl from my class had purchased the video to Thriller. A much sought after item I must say considering no one I knew owned a video player at the time, funnily enough neither did the girl who bought the video. So she begged our teacher to let us watch it on the school's video player. The teacher thought it would be good as a treat to get all of our form together to watch it. To say I was blown away and it changed my musical life forever is an understatement. It was fucking amazing and I will never grow tired of seeing the video clip or remembering how it made me feel at the time. So yes I bawled when it was confirmed he had gone to God.
I was also compelled to think of Richard who died about two years ago who owned the antique toy shop not far from my house who was a Michael Jackson impersonator. He was the subject of a documentary film just before he died which focused on his life and the interesting and eccentric man that he was. It was titled "Richard - The Most Interestingist Person I Have Ever Met" The film won accolades at the Cannes Film Festival and it is little wonder when you see it. I met Richard a few times when I went into his shop. He was fascinating and not unlike looking at Michael Jackson if you imagined him not so dressed up everyday. Richard was a complex man with many frailties which eventually was his demise and he was unfortunate to succumb to the black dog taking his own life.
I was sad when Richard died. Every eccentric who dies before their time and is misunderstood always seems to leave my heart a little heavier and Richard was certainly someone who touched me with his passion and enthusiasm. I understand how it is to be devoted to music. My affection for Depeche Mode is similar to Richards love of Michael Jackson and in that way I understood why he was the way he was about MJ.
So I thought about it in the ensuing days after MJ had died and I decided I needed to memorialise them both in a way. So I asked Peter and Mark to help me put up a massive sign in honour of Richard where his shop once was and now sits unoccupied since his death. I wanted to honour his passion for MJ and somehow MJ as well. It was freezing cold on the night we put it up, our fingers almost chipping off as we stuck the sign up, but it was fun and exhilarating and as we did it I blasted Thriller out of the car stereo. We left it up on the shop window for a few weeks until they had the public memorial and then we snuck back and pulled it down. Frankly leaving the shop window cleaner than it has been since Richard were alive.
I was deathly ill with the flu on the night of the memorial and I was awake feeling sick so I watched the telecast live. I was extremely impressed with the service it was brilliant, I cried buckets. So to anyone who doesn't understand what its like to be called a freak then Rev Al Sharpton put it perfectly when he addressed MJ's children by telling them "Was nothin strange about your Daddy, it was strange what he had to deal with, but he dealt with it" Hallelujah!
So to Richard I truly hope you are moonwalking with Michael Jackson all the way to Eternity.
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